Best of New England Maple Syrup
Sugaring season in New England means a blog post you can smell. Wedged in between purple mountains and amber skies, hardworking sugar stacks billow out plumes of steam. Contemporary sugar makers begin harvesting sap as winter wanes, usually around the beginning of March. Warmer days give way to freezing nights, creating ideal conditions and increasing sap flow. Nature delivers this sweet elixir as a slow welcome to a long awaited new spring. Make this taste journey your next excuse to hit the road in search of the best sugar shacks as we have rounded up a few of our favorite tastes, brands, and stops along the way to indulge your senses.
While about 40 gallons of sap are needed to make a gallon of maple syrup, it takes a little something extra to make an award winner. Exactly what that something is, who can say—but try a maple syrup that’s brought home the gold, and you’ll get it.
Over the past decade, Vermont’s Runamok Maple has raked in the accolades for its elevated organic syrups, including a 2018 SOFI Award (aka “the Oscars of specialty foods”) for its ginger root–infused maple syrup, which bested more than 2,650 product entries in its category. Selected by consumers, the winner of their new flavor contest is: Pineapple Upside-Down Maple Syrup, so creative. Here at New England & Me, it was Runamok’s cardamom-infused syrup that won over our taste buds, (also an Oprah fave)!
Here are some other New England champs to look for:
The seventh generation of Faddens claimed the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association’s trophy for the best maple syrup in the state—an award the family has already won seven times. Fadden’s Sugar House is located in North Woodstock, New Hampshire.
Girard’s Sugarhouse
The golden syrup crafted by Mike Girard, whose ancestors once sugared in Quebec, beat out an international field for a blue ribbon at the 2019 North American Maple Syrup Council competition. Take a ride to this traditional roadside sugarhouse in operation since 1887. Girard’s Sugarhouse is located in Heath, Massachusetts.
This aptly named eighth-generation producer took 2019 Best in Show honors with its golden syrup at that venerable sugaring showdown in St. Albans, the Vermont Maple Festival. Open year round, enjoy their Maple Ice Cream Parlor and Gift Shop with a large selection of Vermont crafts, gifts, specialty foods and of course all kinds Vermont Maple products and cheeses. The best way to find your favorite is a free guided tour of the sugarhouse and find your favorite grade of syrup at the tasting table. Bragg Farm is located in East Montpelier, Vermont.
Still a relative newcomer, Spring Break marked its 20th anniversary with three first-place syrup wins and a Best in Show at the 2018 Maple Mania contest—then notched two more blue ribbons the following year. Spring Break is located in northeast Maine.
Woodlife Ranch
We swing back over a little closer to home to a wild place to find yourself. Situated in a perfect location within the Berkshires, Woodlife Ranch is a family-owned and operated farm, producing fine food and forest products using the most environmentally responsible and sustainable process.
The best part? You can stay there! The Guest Cabin at Woodlife Ranch is truly one-of-a-kind, providing the perfect getaway and gathering place for families and friends to kick back, relax, and enjoy all that the beautiful Berkshires has to offer. Their cozy, rustic cabin sits on a beautiful piece of land right up the hill from their working farm. Located 10 minutes from Jiminy Peak Resort in Williamstown, MA.
